


What Love Means

by thyla_of_mine



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Ficlet, Fluff, Fluffy, Hurt and comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Snuggling, Soul Bond, T'hy'la, T'hy'la bond, cute af, on board the enterprise, sad and then happy, soulbond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-07-27 08:15:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7610539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thyla_of_mine/pseuds/thyla_of_mine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As he lay them down and wrapped his arms around his Captain, he felt the human shivering. Spock knew Jim wasn't shivering from cold, because Spock's quarters were warmer than most aboard the ship (Vulcans required warmer conditions than humans to retain optimum health), and he was also close enough to his human physically to tell that Jim's core temperature was a standard human 37 degrees Celsius. Jim seemed to be shaking due to whatever emotions he was experiencing, and Spock felt his heart ache for his beloved. His Jim. He deserved the universe, not to have his other treat him so poorly that he cried after seeing her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Love Means

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this at 3 am after 2 days without sleep, and it's my first fanfic. However, I really like how it turned out. Feedback is always appreciated (: have fun reading <3

"mmmph nrghhh." Spock heard.  
"I didn't catch that, Captain," he said, gently rubbing circles into Jim's back. Kirk had just returned from shore leave on Altair IV, where his mother currently resided. Spock had wanted to accompany him, but Jim insisted that he "deal with" her alone. Spock knew that Kirk didn't quite have the warm, loving relationship with his mother that he did with his, and so he was ready to calm his t'hy'la, or whatever else might be needed. However, when he returned, Jim didn’t say a word, he simply entered Spock's private quarters (the Vulcan had given him clearance to come and go as he pleased several weeks before) and wormed his way into Spock's science officer uniform shirt. With Spock still in it. Though the Captain's human body heat was relaxing where he could feel it radiating onto his skin, Spock was growing increasingly concerned about the emotional state of his Jim.  
"Captain, I'm going to bed. I assume you will be accompanying me?" Spock asked, smoothing the soft golden hair on the back of Jim's head. He felt a nod from within his shirt. With that, he gently lifted Jim up off his feet and carried him the few meters to his bed. Their bed. As he lay them down and wrapped his arms around his Captain, he felt the human shivering. Spock knew Jim wasn't shivering from cold, because Spock's quarters were warmer than most aboard the ship (Vulcans required warmer conditions than humans to retain optimum health), and he was also close enough to his human physically to tell that Jim's core temperature was a standard human 37 degrees Celsius. Jim seemed to be shaking due to whatever emotions he was experiencing, and Spock felt his heart ache for his beloved. His Jim. He deserved the universe, not to have his other treat him so poorly that he cried after seeing her.  
"Hush, ashayam, I am here. I shall not leave thee."  
"Mmphhh mmmrghhh nnnnn." He heard, the words distorted from where Jim's face, now streaked with tears, was hidden against Spock's chest, inside the cover of his shirt. Safe from the world. Kirk's breath hitched as he tried to control sobs that seemed to tear their way out of him.  
Spock had long since noticed about Jim that he buried real, deep emotion beneath layers sarcasm and self-deprecating jokes. Because of how close they had become, and the fact that they shared a t'hy'la bond, Spock was able to see through these masks to the very core of who James Kirk was. But Jim still tried to hide any sort of compromising emotion from the view of anyone else, even Spock, who loved Jim to the very depths of his soul, despite the fact that he had been raised to suppress any sort of "illogical emotion", such as love.  
They were polar opposites, in a way, but that was not what bonded them together. It was a shared sense of understanding for one another, an openness that could not be matched by anyone else in the universe, a love so profound it erased any doubts that Spock had ever had regarding their relationship. Even if he lost his beloved Captain, he would remain the center of Spock's life, the orbital point that kept him so balanced.  
He hummed deep in his chest, smoothing his hands up and down the Jim's back, sending a sense of calm, adoration, and rightness through their bond. Jim's sobs deepened, letting go of his inhibitions and using Spock as a crutch as he let his grief and resentment pour out of him. After a few minutes of gently rocking his James and holding him tight, Spock felt Jim's head turn so that it was no longer buried in Spock's chest. He heard Jim take an uneasy breath, shaky and still full of emotion.  
"She d-didn't wanna see me, Spock." He heard Jim whisper.  
"Hush, Jim, I am here. I love thee and she does not deserve a son such as you. You are Starfleet's best, and one day she will realize what she is missing." He tried to mask the anger creeping into his mind at his bondmate's words with logic. Jim's mother had never been there for him. The first time Spock had melded with Jim, he had delved into his memories and discovered that James had been left alone on Earth for most of his childhood, with only his abusive stepfather and an older brother. Though this explained much of Jim's self-worth issues, it still pained Spock to think that his Jim was receiving less than he deserved, and worse, that he could do nothing to fix the problem.  
"Love you too. And I doubt it," Jim said, despair lacing through his words. "Ima sleep now, Spock. Stay?" He asked, a quiver in his voice.  
"Of course, ashaya. Sleep now, " he said softly, adjusting them so that Jim's head was pillowed in his shoulder and he could feel the soft breath of his t'hy'la ghosting across his collarbone.  
No matter what the universe threw at them, they would be at one another's sides.  
After all, as Jim had taught him, that was what real love meant.


End file.
